Chapter Five: A Surprise Attack

11: 26

Barrow-in-Furness

The weather was continuing to take a turn for the worse as Gordon rested peacefully in his siding. The wind was getting stronger, blowing more snow across the tracks that was threatening to get thick. And the snow itself was beginning to fall thicker and faster, battering against Gordon as if they were white rocks, and he could do nothing to stop it.

Henceforth, Gordon was miserable.

The big blue engine was cold, getting close to freezing. He had been left alone in the siding, with nothing to do apart from staring at the track in front of him. Gordon hadn't heard from his driver, fireman or the apparent inspector, and only one other engine, a surly diesel, had come past since Edward had left.

"Good riddance, I like peace and quiet!" Gordon huffed, though he could barely hear himself over the howling wind. The snow had completely covered his wheels and Gordon was beginning to shake.

"I'll just go to sleep…. Things will be fine….." Gordon mumbled, and he shut his eyes. But as soon as he did, the wind simply battered his face so much he couldn't keep them shut for more than ten seconds at a time. Gordon sighed and looked sadly down at his buffers. How could he have been so foolish? If he had just taken the fireworks, he could have had a nice New Year: a nice run back onto Sodor, maybe getting to take the trucks to Tidmouth, and if the storm was acting up there, he could stay and watch the display. The more he thought about it, the more he realised that he'd made the wrong choice. What was better: putting up with a little noise, or trying to sleep in a snowstorm?

"Is anyone out there?" Gordon shouted, hoping to attract his crew's attention. However, not matter how loud he cried, no one seemed to be coming. The wind was just tossing his words away into the forest and there was nothing Gordon could do.

"Surely they'll come and check on me at some point…." Gordon mumbled to himself mournfully, and looked up at the cloudy skies overhead. Due to their grey colouring and the darkness that they were causing, Gordon had absolutely no idea what the time was, or how long he had been out here. He began counting down the minutes, watching as the snow continued to rise up, covering his buffers, than his buffer beam, and he could even feel the snow tickling his chin.

"DRIVER….. FIREMAN….. I WANT A SHED!" Gordon shouted as loud as he could, and then he waited. That's when he heard a noise coming from nearby, though the wind seemed to be distorting it. But it did sound like the sound of snow being shovelled out of the way.

"I'M OVER HERE!" Gordon yelled. "COME QUICKLY!"

"Don't worry, we are!" A voice sneered back, followed by raucous laughter that made Gordon seize up. The voice wasn't familiar, and there was a nasty tone to it. The laughter that echoed sounded like it was coming from several different people or engines, and Gordon felt a chill that had nothing to do with the snow.

"W-w-w-who are yo-o-o-ou?" He asked nervously as he squinted through the snow, trying to make out some figures. Some people were clearing away a particularly large section of snow from the track in front, and what looked like the boxish shapes of diesels were moving at a snail's pace behind them.

"What do you w-w-want with m-m-me?" Gordon shivered, and the cold laughter hit him again. The snow suddenly seemed to die down, reverting back to the light soft snow that Gordon preferred. The visibility improved, and Gordon could now see several workmen in filthy uniforms scraping away the snow, tossing it back onto the banks. Behind them were two nearly identical diesels: they were coloured like mossy boulders, with the same length and size and similar square faces. The front one had a thicker, tougher face, while the back one appeared to have several scratches all over his toothless face.

"I'm Bark." The front diesel said.

"And I'm Wood!" The back diesel added proudly.

"What imaginative names." Gordon smirked, despite the situation he was in. The two diesels glared at him, and suddenly moved forwards as the workers leapt off the track. Gordon could smell the rancid smell of diesel fuel, and looked away to avoid eye contact with them.

"Listen here, steam boy!" Bark snarled. "We need some extra cash if we don't wanna get scrapped, and the only way we can get that kind of money is by having something else scrapped as well!" Gordon began shaking more and looked behind him, hoping that someone in the station would notice. He couldn't be taken away and scrapped, not while his crew was so close and able to rescue him.

"Now, I recommend you keep your insults too yourself, and we'll make your death as quick as possible!" Bark hissed, and Wood boomed with laughter. The workers rushed forwards and switched the tracks, allowing Bark to move forwards. One of the workers coupled the two together as quickly as possible, but Gordon looked away, fighting back tears. He was the last of his kind, and was the pride of the North Western Railway, yet he was going to be scrapped thanks to some smelly, nasty diesels.

"Come along now, we know just how to warm you up!" Bark whispered and then cackled nastily. This was what pained Gordon the most: Bark was laughing down at him, and that made the once proud steam engine while like a weak, helpless Narrow Gauge engine. The workers climbed on board the two diesels, and then Bark pulled Gordon back out of the siding. They followed Wood backwards over the lines, moving onto the one Edward had been on only a short time ago.

"Let's get a move on before anyone notices!" One of the workers hissed, and Gordon could see the driver nodded through Bark's grimy windows. They suddenly began moving quickly, the icy rails aiding with their speed. Gordon looked to his left: his coaches were coming up alongside, all of them looking shocked at their engine being taken.

"Where are you taking him, where are you taking him?" They chattered to the diesels anxiously.

"Shut up!" Wood hissed and honked loudly at them. Gordon saw Bark gasp and smiled to himself: they wouldn't get away so easily if people knew they were disappearing.

"HELP, I'M BEING KIDNAPPED, HELP!" Gordon roared over the wind. Bark and Wood both gasped and Gordon allowed himself to smirk. Now that this had happened, there was no way they would scrap him now.

"Well, we'll just have to move quicker than, shan't we!" Bark hissed, and he sped up as much as possible. Gordon just shut his eyes, feeling the snow getting heavier again, and hoped that someone, something will come to his rescue, before it was too late…..